Banksy’s Controversial New Mural Has P*ssed Off Some Important People

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Banksy has made a return to street art with a 70-foot mural in New York and it’s annoyed a lot of people.

The faceless graffiti artist’s new piece, which comes after a five-year hiatus, was unveiled Thursday at the corner of Houston Street and Bowery.

Banksy already has two pieces of work up on NYC’s walls: a rat running on the interior circumference of a clock above a former bank on 14th Street and 6th Avenue and the politically-charged piece on the historic Houston Bowery Wall.

Banksy/Instagram

In this latest piece, Banksy has depicted the controversial incarceration of Turkish journalist Zehra Doğan, who was jailed over a painting.

Zehra was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison over the painting, which showed a war-torn scene in the town of Nusaybin – with Turkish flags painted over crushed buildings.

She shared her picture on social media but was arrested and sentenced to almost three years in prison for doing so.

Banksy’s new protest artwork is a black and white mural which resembles the jail, with Zehra trapped behind bars. Written at the end of the tally marks is: ‘Free Zehra Doğan.’

The tallies in the artwork represent the number of days Zehra has been in prison for and a copy of the watercolor painting is being projected above the mural itself.

Banksy posted an image of the artwork on Instagram, along with the caption:

One year ago Zehra Dogan was jailed for painting this watercolour of a photograph she saw in the newspaper.

Protest against this injustice by re-gramming her painting and tagging Turkey’s President Erdogan.

According to Turkey Purge, Zehra said, in a since-deleted tweet:

I was given two years and 10 months [jail time] only because I painted Turkish flags on destroyed buildings.

However, they [Turkish government] caused this. I only painted it.

In a statement to the New York Times, Banksy said:

I really feel for her. I’ve painted things much more worthy of a custodial sentence.

Glad to see him back.

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